The Reader
by Chaotic-Theoretician
Summary: The Doctor thought he was the last - and he was mistaken. The Reader, a female timelord and friend from Gallifrey, has stepped back into the Doctor's life. Can the Doctor's companions handle TWO timelords? AU. Ninth/Tenth Doctor/OC
1. Reunion

**A/N:** First of all, I am an American, so if I get British colloquialisms wrong, please don't kill me. I'm innocent, and I'm doing my best to pay attention to British colloquialisms in British television shows.

This is my first attempt at a _Doctor Who_ fanfic, and it is a bit of an AU, since we know for a fact that, aside from the Master, the Doctor is the last timelord. In any case, I will be utilizing my liberties as a writer, since I don't know everything about _Doctor Who_ and how things work exactly. So, please, if I've done something wrong, message me and inform me of my mistake so that I may fix it or provide some sort of explanation for it. Thank you!

Also, this fic will start out with the Ninth Doctor but may eventually progress into the Tenth Doctor. I only began with the Ninth because it seems easier to work with - and because I've started watching the series from the beginning and all I can think about is the Ninth Doctor. (The Tenth, however, will always be my favorite.)

Enjoy!

* * *

"Ever been to America?"

Rose glanced up at the Doctor, eyebrows arched. "America? As in the United States?"

The Doctor grinned. "That's the one."

"No, I haven't." Rose cocked her head slightly. "Why?"

"D'you want to see it?"

Rose thought for a moment and shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Brilliant." The Doctor clapped his hands together and began to dart around the heart of the TARDIS, pressing buttons and pulling levers. "America's different enough to be fun."

"Fun? I thought Americans were, um…" Rose wracked her mind. "You know…stupid."

The Doctor laughed and passed by the 19-year-old Brit. "Americans think Brits are stupid. Why don't you see for yourself?"

Pressing one final button, the Doctor gripped the TARDIS for dear life, his eyes trained on the internal mechanism as it glowed and pulsated, the machine coming to life to carry them across the universe and through time. The TARDIS jolted and rolled, shaking and shuddering with each bounce through spatial dimension. Rose clung to the Doctor for dear life, exhilarated by the ride but frightened that she would be flung across the room. The two companions laughed, timelord and human connected by the love for adventure and the prospect of new worlds and places.

The TARDIS came to a stop, stabilizing itself as it materialized somewhere on American soil. Rose relaxed her grip on the Doctor's leather jacket and stretched, shaking the thrill of the TARDIS's journey out of her system. The Doctor darted around to look at the screen. He laughed again, a silly grin stretching across his face from ear to ear. He glanced up at his companion, bright, sky blue eyes twinkling.

"And it's 2010," he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "There's lots of new stuff going on. America has a black president!"

"Why's that so special?"

"They've never had a black president before!" The Doctor leapt across the TARDIS and grabbed Rose's hand, gripping it tightly, so caught up in his excitement he was. "_And_, it's two years before the end of the world!"

Rose stiffened. "You're joking! That doesn't happen until the year – "

"No, no, no. It's two years away from 2012," the Doctor explained, rolling his eyes. "Everybody thinks the world's gonna end. They even made a movie about it. It stars some chap named John Cusack." The Doctor pursed his lips and looked over Rose's head, his brow furrowing. "Cusack. Who has a name like Cusack?"

Rose chuckled and shook her head. "Does it really matter?"

"Guess not." The timelord's face lit up again. "Well, come on! What are we waiting for?"

"You to shut up."

The Doctor pouted. "You've never complained before."

"You've never blamed me for your blabbering."

"Blabbering? Since when do I blabber?"

"Oh, come on." Rose tugged the Doctor down the TARDIS ramp and towards the doors. "I want to see America."

"It's a nice place, aside from all the fat people."

"Fat people?"

The Doctor nodded, pretending to be grave. "It's all those McDonalds. Speaking of which, chips in America are called French fries."

"French fries?" Rose pushed open the TARDIS door. "They're not even French!"

"I never said Americans weren't weird."

Rose blinked and sneezed as bright light blinded her for a moment. When her eyes adjusted, she looked around. The TARDIS sat between two buildings. Rose turned slowly on her heel, her head tilting to the side as she peered through the two buildings.

"Is this a school?"

The Doctor glanced around. "Yep."

"What _kind_ of school?" Rose walked towards the end of the buildings and peered around the corner. A group of boys looked up, startled, cigarettes and marijuana joints hanging from their lips and fingers.

The Doctor popped his head around the corner, too, and cried, "Hullo!"

The boys scattered, cigarettes and joints ditched and forgotten on the asphalt. Rose inched forward, staring at the joints.

"Are those what I think they are?" she asked, pointing.

"I dunno." The Doctor shrugged and stood beside Rose, his eyes following her finger. "I can't tell what you're thinking, now can I?"

Rose smacked the Doctor's shoulder. "Are those drugs?"

The Doctor's eyebrows arched. "You act like you've never used drugs before." He stooped, picked up one of the joints, and sniffed. "I believe Americans call it 'weed' or 'pot'."

Rose shook her head and knocked the joint out of the Doctor's hand. "They sure have weird names for everything, don't they?"

In a voice very much like Rose's, the Doctor quipped, "Does it really matter?" His silly grin stretched wide across his face again. "Yes, I suppose they do. Now, come on! Let's go see the children!"

Rose clung to the Doctor's hand as he dragged her along. "What's so important about the children?"

"They're the weirdest." The Doctor paused at the end of the row of buildings. "I think this is a high school."

Rose blinked. "What do you mean 'high school'?"

"That's what they call a school when the kids are between fourteen and eighteen, I think." Scratching his head, the Doctor tugged Rose to the left down a long open corridor.

Rose followed along, her eyes darting around to take in the low-lying buildings. "Eighteen? They have to be in school until _eighteen_?"

"Yep. It's the law."

A boy wearing a white shirt with the number 14 on the back in big, black letters passed the duo by, a backpack hanging off one shoulder. The Doctor let go of Rose's hand and tapped the boy's shoulder. Brown eyes glared at the Doctor, the Mexican face furrowing into an expression of irritation and confusion.

"What the fuck do you want?" he snapped, stepping away from the Doctor, the heavy Mexican accent chopping his words.

Rose winced. "How old are you?"

"Thirteen. Got a problem with that?"

"You're not friendly much, are you?"

The Doctor tapped the boy on the shoulder again, drawing the teenager's attention away from Rose. "What school is this?"

"Sur Vista High School," the boy answered, still glaring.

"And, um," the Doctor continued, glancing around, "where exactly _is_ Sur Vista High School?"

The boy's brow furrowed in confusion. "What the fuck are you smoking?"

The Doctor blinked. "I don't smoke."

"Could've fooled me." The boy shook his head and started to wander off.

"You never answered my question!" the Doctor called after him, still standing in the sunlight, Rose flanking his left side.

The boy lifted his middle finger and lifted it over his head so the Doctor and Rose could see. The duo squinted, particularly the Doctor, and turned to each other, their faces contorting into expressions of confusion. Rose peered up at the Doctor quizzically.

"What does that mean?"

"It means 'fuck off'."

The Doctor and Rose pivoted around to face the speaker. An adult man, dressed in slacks, an Oxford shirt, and a loose tie, approached them, a thick stack of papers in hand. He smiled at the duo and extended his free hand to the both of them, his brown eyes intrigued but revealing nothing beyond that. The Doctor shook the man's hand fiercely and grinned broadly. Rose, still perplexed, gave the man a weak grasp and let her hand fall down to her side, her eyes still following the boy as he hurried further and further away across the moderately-sized campus.

"I'm Mr. Anderson," the man said. "I'm a teacher here."

"A teacher!" The Doctor clapped and rubbed his hands together. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

"Hi," Rose mumbled, forcing herself to face the man.

"Nice to meet you." Mr. Anderson shifted the stack of papers from one arm to the other. "You two are from England. First time in the States?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, but Rose cut him off and replied, "Yeah. This is our first time."

"Where are we?" the Doctor finally managed to ask.

"California," the teacher replied. "I can't believe you guys stopped _here_, though. Sur Vista's not exactly a tourist hot spot."

"We just sort of ended up here," Rose muttered, running a hand through her blonde hair. "California? As in all the beaches and stuff?"

"You're too far inland to see beaches around here." Mr. Anderson frowned. "You'll have to go down to Long Beach. It's kind of a long drive."

"Thanks."

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and smiled at the high school teacher. "We'll be seeing you."

"Yeah, I bet." Mr. Anderson's frown deepened. "What did you say your name was?"

"The Doctor."

"What's your last name?"

The Doctor beamed and shrugged. "Don't have one. Just the Doctor."

Mr. Anderson nodded slowly and watched the companions head back towards the other buildings. He shook his head and muttered to himself, "Crazy Brits."

"Don't you get tired of having to say that?" Rose asked, letting her hand run against the poorly painted wood of the nearest building.

"Say what?"

"That your name is the Doctor. Everybody always asks for your last name, or they say, 'Doctor who?'" Rose rubbed the back of her neck, her eyes wandering over the Doctor's shoulder and fixing on the seemingly empty buildings across the way. "Don't you ever get tired of that?"

The Doctor shrugged. "After nine-hundred years, it grows on you."

As they approached the two buildings where the TARDIS waited for them, Rose glanced at the spot where the group of boys had been. She faltered and chuckled in disbelief.

"The fags are gone," she pointed out.

"They were probably expensive." The Doctor tugged on Rose's hand and pulled her around the corner.

The Doctor halted in his tracks. A girl, no older than sixteen, stood by the TARDIS. Her brown hair fell in a braid down her back, thick and long, stretching almost all the way down to her hips. She eyed the TARDIS with awe and reverence, her hands reaching out to touch the blue box. Long, sensual fingers, pressed against the wood and trailed down the grain slowly. The Doctor stiffened beside Rose, his hand tightening around hers. She winced and pulled her hand away.

"That hurt!" she hissed, clenching and unclenching her hand; she glanced up at the Doctor. "What's wrong?" Following the Doctor's unblinking stare, she saw the girl and tensed as well. "Oh no."

The girl touched the keyhole of the TARDIS. A warm sensation spread from the Doctor's pocket and up along his chest, settling deep within him. A single tear rolled down the girl's cheek and dripped to the asphalt. Rose's eyes darted between the girl and the Doctor, her brow furrowing as she noticed the look of disbelief in the Doctor's blue eyes. He shook his head and whispered to himself, "It's not possible. It can't be possible."

The girl, another tear sliding down her cheek, pressed her forehead against the TARDIS, her eyes fluttering close. Her words drifted into the Doctor and Rose's hearing, despite the considerable distance between them.

"Unbelievable," she said. "This can't be happening."

The warm sensation in the Doctor's pocket intensified in a burn. The Doctor winced, his hand digging around in his pocket for the source of heat. Pulling it out of his pocket, the Doctor stared at the TARDIS key. Rose tore her gaze away from the girl and fixed her eyes on the key, her frown – and confusion – deepening. The key glowed in the Doctor's hand, growing hotter and hotter by the second. Rose glanced back at the girl and tugged the Doctor's arm.

"Doctor," she whispered. "Look!"

The Doctor tore his eyes away from the glowing TARDIS key and stared at the girl. The girl's hands began to glow, a golden light enveloping her fingers. The glow spread up her arms and to her face, her hair shimmering as the light rose up around her and dissipated into the air. She staggered away from the TARDIS, the glow growing brighter.

"What's happening?" Rose asked, gripping the Doctor's arm tightly. "What's wrong with her?"

The girl's head jerked back, the golden light shooting out of her head and hands, the very air around her rippling. Rose jumped back, her hands falling away from the Doctor's bicep. Horrified, she watched as the girl grew taller, her long, swinging braid shrinking and unraveling. The girl's features changed, ageing about fifteen more years.

The girl shuddered and doubled over, the light disappearing in an instant – only she wasn't a girl anymore. She straightened, breathing heavily as she examined her hands. Dark red hair – so deep it was almost brown – fell down to her shoulders in waves. Her height, almost a foot taller now, matched up nearly with the Doctor's.

The TARDIS key's glow dimmed. The Doctor let it fall back into his pocket, his hands shaking. He shook his head and took a few steps forward, his legs weak beneath him.

"The Reader?" he asked, his voice wavering.

Slowly, the woman turned around, hazel eyes falling on the Doctor's. Rose heard the woman inhale sharply.

"The Doctor?" she asked.

"You're not…"

"I'm not? You're not!"

They stood a foot or so apart, tears springing up in both of their eyes. The Doctor reached out and touched the woman's face, his hands still shaking. The woman nodded her head, the Doctor's disbelief reflected in her own eyes. The Doctor swept her up in his arms, squeezing her against him tightly. She hugged him back just as fiercely, her fingers clinging to the back of his jacket as he picked her up off the ground.

"You're alive!" the Doctor cried. "You're _alive!_"

Rose wandered over to the two warily. The Doctor set the woman down and held her shoulders at arms length, taking in all her features, the tears still streaming down his face – happy tears, deeply happy, joyous tears. Noticing Rose, he turned sharply and threw his arms up in the air. He swept her up in a tight hug, swinging her around as he jumped up and down in ecstasy.

"Rose!" he cried, setting her down. "She's alive! I'm not the last! I'm not the last!"

Rose frowned. "Who is she?"

The woman smiled through her tears and stretched out her hand. "I'm the Reader."

"The Reader?"

The woman nodded, but the Doctor spoke up before she did. Gripping Rose's hand tightly, he nodded his head furiously, his other hand reaching for the Reader's.

"She's a timelord!"


	2. The Reader

**A/N:** Yay, I actually updated this story! Thank my mother for dragging me over to watch a _Doctor Who_ episode with her on TV. :)

Enjoy!

* * *

Despite all his excitement and enthusiasm, the Doctor had enough wits about him to shuffle Rose and the Reader into the TARDIS so as not to be in public. The Reader slowly circled the heart of the TARDIS, the occasional tear of joy sliding down her face. The machine seemed to truly come alive with the presence of two timelords in it; Rose could've sworn it sounded like it was breathing.

"A timelord?" she managed to ask, glancing between the two. "I thought all the timelords were dead."

"So did I," the Doctor and the Reader replied in unison. They exchanged a glance, huge smiles plastered on their faces.

Rose pointed at the Reader. "Then how…?"

"Good question," the Doctor said, turning to the Reader. "How did you survive?"

"Well," the Reader began, perching herself on the edge of the heart of the TARDIS, "that's a bit of a long story." Her American accent was dominant, sporting the typical pronunciations of a Californian.

"We have all the time in the universe."

The Reader grinned at the Doctor but gestured at Rose. "Not all of us." She smiled at the young woman. "First thing's first, though. What's your name?"

"Rose. Rose Tyler."

"Nice to meet you, Rose. I'm the Reader, but you already know that." The female timelord repositioned herself, arms folding across her chest. "What was I saying? Oh, right: how I survived. Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea."

"No idea?" the Doctor asked, incredulous. "What d'you mean, 'No idea'?"

"What? 'No idea' has a different meaning now?" The Reader rolled her eyes, a solemnity descending on her face. "It doesn't matter. The last thing I remember is being shoved into a TARDIS. Next thing I knew, I was standing in front of _your_ TARDIS, with everything flooding back." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Do you still have that sonic screwdriver?"

The Doctor fished the instrument out of his pocket with a flourish. "It's my favorite."

The Reader chuckled. "Boy, I wish I had one of those. Some of my adventures could've ended a lot nicer if I had had one." She shook her head. "Anyway, you've changed a _lot_ since I saw you last."

"It _has_ been centuries."

"Don't you remember little Seeker? Skimpy little thing with ginger hair and freckles?"

"Ugh, I never liked him." The Doctor crossed his arms and pouted. "I've never _been_ ginger. It's not fair."

The Reader waved her hand and turned to Rose. "Anyway, this timelord was the funniest little guy you'd ever see, but he was smart – really smart. We should've called him the Chicken. He was always running away from fights and adventures. He kept the same face for three centuries."

"Then what happened to him?" Rose asked, almost dreading the answer.

"A couple Daleks got to him." The Reader's brow furrowed. "What happened to those things, anyway? Did we wipe 'em out just before we were slaughtered?"

The Doctor shook his head. "There's still some out there."

"Little shitheads." The Reader stood to her feet. "Just when you think you've killed 'em all, they've got another bastard hiding out somewhere, just in case – "

The Reader collapsed. Leaping forward, the Doctor caught her before she hit the floor. Rose stood off to the side, eyes wide, mouth wide open. The Doctor swung the Reader up into his arms and glanced at Rose.

"Well don't just stand there!" he cried. "Grab some of the clothes in the back and lay them out over there."

Rose stumbled over her feet as she carried out his orders. "What's wrong with her? She just keeled over!"

"That's normal." The Doctor lay the Reader down on the makeshift bed and draped a trench coat over her body to keep her warm.

"Normal?" Rose's voice rose. "What do you mean, 'normal'?"

"After a regeneration," the Doctor explained, "the body needs to sleep and complete the regeneration process on the _inside_. It's all neurotransmitters and stuff. If we wake her up too soon, she'll go into shock and could possibly die. In the meantime, we should probably stay in the TARDIS."

"Why? Will she die if we don't?"

"Well, no, I hope not, but she's releasing a lot of energy – _timelord_ energy." The Doctor rocked back on his heels and gazed down at the Reader's serene face. "If there are any alien species nearby, they might pick up on the energy."

"Can they find her in the TARDIS?"

"Nope, but if we're on the outside, they can find me." He grinned. "I'm hot stuff, you know."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Sure you are."

Reaching over to brush a few strands of hair out of the Reader's face, the Doctor's own features passed between solemn and happy. Rose watched the conflicting emotions dart across his face, concerned with this new complication. She thought she had known the man – if he could be classified as a man, what with him being a timelord and all – but here he was caring for one of his own people, trying hard not to cry from relief and disbelief. Rose grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Who is she?" Rose asked, sitting down on the grate, back propped up against the nearest handrail; the Doctor followed suit, his gaze lingering on the Reader's face. He met Rose's gaze with a soft smile, eyes twinkling.

"She was my companion." He laced his fingers over his stomach, his eyes growing distant. "We grew up together on Gallifrey. That's my home planet – _was_ my home planet…" Sadness tugged at his features, but only for a moment. "Anyway, the Reader and I did everything together. In the first century or so of our official timelord adventures, she and I traveled the galaxy together, just for the fun of it, meeting new species of aliens and having fun. Boy, what a time we had!"

Rose glanced down at the Reader. "Then what?"

The Doctor sighed. "Well, the universe has a way of calling out to the people it needs. When we officially gave ourselves our names, we determined our course among the stars."

"What?"

"I'm the Doctor, right?" The frustration in his voice was starting to become evident to Rose. "Well, the TARDIS started taking me to places where people needed help. And the Reader – her calling was knowledge. She traveled to the farthest reaches of the universe to learn things. The older timelords used to say that she would probably be one of the wisest timelords." He frowned. "I guess she _is_ the wisest now…"

Rose tugged at the bottom of her jacket, desperately trying to come up with a change of subject. "How long will she be like this?"

"A few hours." The Doctor scratched his chin. "She wasn't hurt or anything, so the regeneration process will finish faster than if she had been dying. There are fewer cells to fix, although it'll still take awhile to regenerate."

"Why?"

"She has to create more cells because she accelerated to her proper age." The Doctor shrugged. "All we can do is sit here and wait."

Rose slumped back against the handrail. "Why do you think the Reader was shoved into a TARDIS?"

The Doctor shrugged again. "She had more knowledge and experience than most of the other timelords by the time the war happened. Maybe she knows something that could protect the past, present, and future." He managed his silly smile. "We'll find out when she wakes up."


	3. She's Awake

"Bored much?"

Rose jumped. "Oh my God, you scared me!" She pressed her hand against her chest, heart pounding at her ribs. "I didn't hear you get up."

"The wise tread quietly, for they understand the necessity of silence." The Reader shrugged and sat herself down beside Rose. "Where's the Doctor?"

Rose took a moment to catch her breath. "He went out to buy us hamburgers. He wanted me to stay behind in case you woke up."

The Reader nodded, a soft smile on her lips. "Typical Doctor," she murmured, turning her attention to Rose. "So, you're the Doctor's companion, hmm? For how long?" Her American accent had faded into a subtle one, only slightly noticeable. Her voice, however, was heavy with a solemnity that Rose had only heard once or twice from the Doctor himself.

"Umm…I dunno. It's been quite a while, though."

The Reader nodded again. "I never did understand why the Doctor wanted company. Most of the time lords did, actually – always dragging along some person."

Rose's brow furrowed. "What, you never had a companion?"

The Reader shook her head, folded her arms across her chest. "Nah, I always kept to myself. You could call me a loner. Even on Gallifrey, I was always off by myself. The Doctor was my only real friend, now that I think about it. I suppose he figured I needed saving." She smirked. "More like the other way around, though."

Silence descended. Rose plucked at the seam of her pants, fiddling with a stray thread. She glanced up at the Reader from beneath her eyebrows, eyeing the woman. The time lord – _time lordess?_ Rose wondered – had a distant look in her eyes. The lines on her face had grown deeper, aging her for almost another ten years at that very moment. Rose cleared her throat.

"D'you have a TARDIS?" she asked, snapping the Reader out of her memories.

"Yes, actually. Don't know where it is, but I'll find it. Can't be far from home," the Reader replied, the lines in her face melting away as she smiled and shrugged off her solemnity.

"Is it a police box?"

The Reader chuckled, shook her head. "Nope, can't say that it is."

"Then what is it?"

"Whatever it needs to be." The Reader stood up, stretching her legs and suppressing a yawn. "The TARDIS was designed to change its appearance wherever it went. It would change into something that was completely familiar and inconspicuous, something normal in whatever planet or era it landed in. End up in the woods, it changes into a tree. End up in a storage place, it changes into a box. Only a time lord can tell the difference."

"Yeah? Then how did the Doctor's end up like this?"

"It was frozen." The Reader rapped her knuckles against the console, feeling the TARDIS hum beneath her touch. "It malfunctioned and became stuck as a police box."

"Is that normal?"

"Is the Doctor normal?"

Rose grinned. "Touché."

The Reader grinned back. "Now that I think about it, my TARDIS is probably a tree – right in my backyard, I suppose."

"How're you supposed to get into it?"

"I'll figure out a way."

"I'm back!" The Doctor, bags in hand, waltzed through the door of the TARDIS. "Is the Reader up yet?"

"Yes, I am." The Reader stood up, eyeing the bags. "And I'm starving!"

The Doctor hopped up beside the Reader and handed her one of the bags. "Take your pick. I bought cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers, plain hamburgers – you name it."

"Did you get the chips?" Rose asked, getting up as well.

"Of course." The Doctor fished a big bag of French fries out of one of the bags. "They're not the same as London, but they're good enough."

"Doesn't matter," Rose said, snatching up the fries. "I'm too hungry to care."

With three burgers in hand, the Reader sat herself down and began to eat, trying her best not to stuff her face. The Doctor sat himself down beside her, leaving Rose to sit all alone. Rose felt a pang of jealousy as the Doctor grinned at the Reader and dug into his own hamburger. She hadn't realized that the Doctor would be devoting most of his attention to the Reader, what with her being a time lord. Rose swallowed thickly, a feeling of foreboding settling in her stomach. The Doctor and the Reader were the last of the time lords…and the Reader was a _female_ time lord. What if…?

Rose shook the thought out of her head and focused on her food. Nevertheless, the fries lost their appeal, and the hamburger was thick in her mouth. The Reader smiled at her and leaned her head back, a sigh of happiness escaping her throat.

"These are so _good_," she said, grinning at the Doctor. "Thank you."

"Figured you'd be hungry." He grinned back. "I always am after a regeneration."

"How many has it been now?"

"Oh, I dunno…" The Doctor frowned, his brow furrowing as he counted in his head. "Eight or nine, I think."

The Reader nodded. "I'm on my sixth."

"Of course you are. You've never had any fun!"

"I have, too!" The Reader shook her head, chuckling. "I regenerated _twice_ when I was traveling with you."

"But after that?" The Doctor looked at her knowingly. "Seeking knowledge – _boring!_"

The Reader turned to Rose. "He never was one to understand the power of knowledge."

"Knowledge is power – sure, and being a time lord doesn't have anything to do with it," the Doctor scoffed, taking another bite out of his burger.

"Well, it does have its advantages," the Reader admitted, "but that still doesn't account for how powerful knowledge really is! Just ask any human who understands."

Rose nodded. "I knew this bloke that knew practically everything. Became president of the class, or something."

"Where's he now?" the Doctor asked.

Rose shrugged. "Dunno. Never heard about him again."

The Doctor turned to the Reader, a smug smirk on his face. "See?"

The Reader punched his shoulder. "Careful," she warned. "I know all the weak points of the body."

"Ooh, I'm _so_ scared. I'm quaking in my pants."

Rose stared at the two as they laughed. The Doctor poked the Reader in the ribs, causing her to jump and swat his hand away. _Real mates_, Rose noted, frowning. _Well, they grew up together. Makes sense._ Her frown deepened. _But Mickey and I grew up together…_

The Reader finished the first of the hamburgers she had grabbed. "With all the rooms you have in the TARDIS, why on earth did you put me on the floor?"

"Where else was I going to put you? In my bedroom?" The Doctor shook his head. "Rose took the other bedroom."

"What, no guest rooms?" The Reader rolled her eyes. "You have all these companions traveling around with you, and you only have _one_ guest room?"

"That's more to say than _your_ TARDIS," the Doctor retorted, swallowing the last bite of his burger. "You just had your room, and that's it."

"That's all I needed, thank you very much."

"Speaking of which," the Doctor said, "where _is_ your TARDIS?"

The Reader shrugged, a smile on her lips as she shot Rose a knowing glance. "Don't know," she replied. "I figure it's nearby, though. Probably a tree or something."

"It hasn't short-circuited?"

"Why would it? I didn't steal it."

The Doctor grimaced. "I borrowed it and forgot to give it back."

"Technically, you stole this TARDIS," the Reader repeated.

"What?" Rose glanced between the two, suddenly lost in the conversation.

"The Doctor stole this TARDIS," the Reader told her, unwrapping her second burger, "from another renegade time lord."

"He wasn't using it!" the Doctor cried. "She was so dusty and neglected…she just _wanted_ to be used!"

The Reader rolled her eyes, mouthing _'He stole it'_ to Rose when he wasn't looking. Rose smirked, her food starting to taste like normal again. She figured she could like the Reader once she got to know her. She was much like the Doctor in quite a few ways – well, if they were mates in their youth, then, yeah, they would've rubbed off on each other – but she was also different…different enough to make her interesting. Although the pangs of jealousy still coursed through Rose, she noticed that the Reader wasn't being hostile to her, nor was she in any way threatening to anything that was there between Rose and the Doctor.

"What do we call you, exactly?"

The Doctor and the Reader glanced up at the blonde, the same puzzled look on both their faces.

"Well," the Reader said slowly, "my name is the – "

Rose shook her head. "I meant, are you a time lord? A time lordess?"

"Time lordess?" The Reader's eyebrows arched in amusement. She turned to the Doctor. "I like the sound of that."

"Time lady." The Doctor glanced over at Rose. "That's the right name."

"Time lady," Rose murmured to herself. "Were there many time…ladies back home?"

"Well, I suppose so," the Reader replied, pursing her lips in thought. "There were more time lords than time ladies, though. Skewy genes, I used to say."

Sadness descended on both time lords' faces. The Doctor glanced down at the grate of the TARDIS, staring down into the depths of the machine's wiring. The Reader shook her head, squeezed the Doctor's shoulder to snap him out of it. Smiling, she climbed to her feet and stretched, reaching for the ceiling of the TARDIS. A series of cracks and pops followed.

"Much better," the Reader sighed, shaking out her shoulders. "Almost thought I had to go to a chiropractor to get that fixed."

"Your back _still_ bothers you?"

The Reader nodded her head. "And it's your fault, Doctor."

The Doctor jumped to his feet. "Me? I told you not to jump!"

"If you hadn't angered those creatures, we would've never _been_ in that situation!"

The Doctor threw his hands up and hopped over to Rose. "She's always like this," he told her. "Always blames me for all her problems."

"You were the _source_ of my problems," the Reader pointed out, jabbing a finger at him.

"Told you," the Doctor muttered, grinning at Rose. "Done with those chips?"

Rose nodded. "Help yourself."

"Well," the Reader said, taking a bite out of her second hamburger, "I suppose I need to find my TARDIS now, don't I?"

The Doctor jumped to his feet again. "We'll help."

The Reader smiled. "Great. I know where we can start looking. It's probably not there, but it's worth a shot."


End file.
